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Apple Expected to Launch New iPads and OS at Oct. 16 Event

Apple fanatics will likely be pinned to their seats with excitement as of 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 16 when Apple unveils its newest products.

Apple is again about to announce some updated new products, most likely in its iPad and desktop iMac lines, as it holds an online launch event from its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters on Oct. 16.

Nothing has yet been announced officially, of course, but rumors that have been circulating point to such devices as new iPads and a refreshed iMac line, according to various online reports.

The latest round of Apple products comes just a month after the company launched its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones, which quickly set new first-weekend sales records for iPhones since their introduction in 2007.

Among the biggest possibilities for tomorrow's launch event is a new iPad Air, which will get a new A8 processor and have the new Touch ID fingerprint identification system, a new line of desktop iMacs with faster processors, improved graphics and crisper Retina displays, and a new version of the OS X operating system, named Yosemite, according to an earlier eWEEK report. Also expected are new details about the Apple Watch that's planned for 2015.

Further reading

Apple Pay could also get new attention at the Oct. 16 event, as well as an updated iPad Mini.

One new product that likely won't get much attention is the rumored larger 12.9-inch iPad, which is apparently being delayed until 2015 due to the success of the iPhone 6 models, which have factories still turning out more and more smartphones to meet the demand, according to a recent eWEEK story. The bigger iPads were originally slated to be built in large quantities starting in December, but the plans have now been delayed.

Also not expected to get any attention is Apple's Macbook line, which doesn't appear to be getting a refresh in this round of product announcements.

It's been quite a busy few months for Apple as the event approaches.

The new iPhones, which were released starting Sept. 19, have been a huge hit, selling more than 10 million units in their first weekend on the market, according to a previous eWEEK story. That sales mark gave the iPhone 6 models a new all-time record for first-weekend iPhone sales since iPhones first hit the market back in June of 2007.

And those iPhone 6 sales are just going to get bigger, now that Apple received approval from China in late September to begin selling the smartphones to residents in that smartphone-crazy nation. The phones will go on sale in China on Oct. 17 after reaching more than 20 million preorders, according to a report by dnaIndia.com.

Apple was forced to quickly come up with a new repair to its latest iOS 8 mobile operating system when the first iOS 8 update, version 8.0.1, was released on Sept. 24 and caused some iPhone 6 devices to lose the ability to make cell phone calls. A fresh update, iOS 8.0.2, was released some 36 hours later to fix the problems that some iPhone owners experienced. The problems caused Apple to issue an apology to users as it turned around a working update very quickly. The original iOS 8.0.1 update had also disabled the Touch ID functions on new iPhone 6 devices, making life difficult for their owners.

The swift action by Apple to get a working update out to replace the flawed code is impressive, but the release of the flawed code in the first place had many critics online discussing how such a glitch would never have occurred under the leadership of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

The bad update certainly hasn't been the only Apple issue on the minds of owners of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones recently. Some iPhone 6 owners around the world initially reported that their thinner iPhone 6 phones were bending when they were kept in a pants pocket.

The bending issues were widely circulated online along with graphic photographs that purported to show iPhone 6 phones with mild or more severe bending.

The reported phone-bending problem is not the first time that a potential problem has cropped up with new iPhones. In July 2010, Apple dealt with antenna issues surrounding its then new iPhone 4 that were inspired by consumer complaints of poor call quality when they held their phones. Called "Antennagate" by Jobs at the time, the problem was the location of the antenna inside the devices, which was solved with an add-on thin rubber case.